ISRAELI ARTISTS PROJECT Proudly Presents the New York Premiere of BEST FRIENDS

ISRAELI ARTISTS PROJECT
​Proudly Presents the New York Premiere of

Winner of the Israel National Theater Award for Best Comedy in 1999

“Anat Gov does a fine job on the meta-playwriting level. “Best Friends” is a genre piece that is also an affectionate commentary on the genre to which it belongs.” - ArtsFuse.org

BEST FRIENDS

Can Childhood Friendship Stand the Test of Time

Written by ANAT GOV

Directed by HAMUTAL POSKLINSKY-SHEHORY

LIMITED ENGAGEMENT
​MARCH 22 – APRIL 2, 2023 AT THE RATTLESTICK THEATER

HEBREW OPENING NIGHT IS THURSDAY, MARCH 23 AT 7 P.M.
​ENGLISH OPENING NIGHT IS SATURDAY, MARCH 25 AT 7 P.M.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT ​​ISRAELIARTISTSPROJECT.ORG

 ISRAELI ARTISTS PROJECT (Yoni Vendriger, Producing Artistic Director) is pleased to announce, in celebration of Women’s History Month, the New York premiere production (after an extensive pandemic pause, initially scheduled in Spring of 2020) of award-winning Israeli playwright Anat Gov’s BEST FRIENDS, the longest-running comedy in Israel and winner of the prestigious Israel National Theater Award for Best Comedy in 1999, directed by Hamutal Posklinsky-Shehory. BEST FRIENDS will be performed in both English and Hebrew (by the same actors) and play a limited engagement at the Rattlestick Theater (224 Waverly Place, New York, NY). ​ Performances begin Wednesday, March 22 at 7 p.m. and continues through Sunday, April 2. Opening Night is Saturday, March 25 (7 p.m.). Tickets are $25-$50 and are available at https://ci.ovationtix.com/34100/production/1153688.

Sophie, Tirzah and Lelly met in their high school bathroom in the late 1960s. From that inauspicious beginning, a life-long friendship was born. Now, twenty years later, these best friends are brought together when Sophie and Tirzah have not spoken to one another for nearly two years, and Lelly tries to reconcile the two by bringing them to discuss “a matter of life and death.” The friends are seen in all phases of their lives and friendship, with flashbacks throughout the years starting from their youth until their forties. 

Told with humor, heart, and biting wit in scenes that go back and forth in time, BEST FRIENDS  is about three women who are forced to examine their friendship and discover themselves in the process. 

“Best Friends by Anat Gov is a symbol of the modern Israeli culture,” says director Posklinsky-Shehory. “It is a story full of humor, gently exposing the cultural Israeli layers while comically exploring the brutal truth of human complexity, love, and friendship. In the IAP's upcoming production of the play, connections are deconstructed, and aesthetically built back together, creating stronger grounds, healing ancient wounds, and grasping a hopeful future.”

Before her passing, Gov spoke of her writing of BEST FRIENDS, “I really wanted to write a play only for actresses, as a compensation to the fact so few good roles are available for women”.

The production stars Addi Gefen (Swan Lake Rock Opera) as Young Tirza, Karin Hershkovitz Kochavi (Fool for Love) as Sophie, Maia Karo* (War Stories) as Lelly, *Adi Kozlovsky (The Vocapeople, New World Stages) as Tirza, Yael Shavitt (The Record, The Public Theater) as Young Sophie and Maya Shoham (Girl, The Idealist) as Young Lelly. The swings are Dafi Cramer (A Bright Room Called Day, Purchase Repertory Theater) ​ and ​ Te'ena Klein (Ajax in Iraqu). *Equity Members - Equity Approved Showcase

The production, assistant directed by Lotan Eny, features scenic design by Liron Barel, costume design by Arbel Rabi, and lighting design by Hamutal Posklinsky-Shehory. The sound designer and stage manager is Anat Kriger. Publicity by Katie Rosin/Kampfire PR.

BEST FRIENDS plays the following schedule through Sunday, April 2: 

Performances in English
​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Friday - March 24, 7 p.m. ​
​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Saturday – March 25, 2 p.m.
​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Saturday – March 25, 7 p.m. - English Opening
​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Monday – March 27, 7 p.m.
​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Friday – March 31, 7 p.m.
​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Sunday – April 2, 2 p.m.

Performances in Hebrew
​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Wednesday – March 22, 7 p.m.
​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Thursday – March 23, 7 p.m. - Hebrew Opening
​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Sunday – March 26, 2 p.m.
​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Thursday – March 30, 7 p.m.
​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Saturday – April 1, 7 p.m.

Tickets are $25-$50 and are now available online at https://ci.ovationtix.com/34100/production/1153688. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the theater a half-hour prior to the performance.

Running Time: approximately 75 minutes (no intermission)

Website: www.IsraeliArtistsProject.org

Instagram

Media Kit with Photos

BIOGRAPHIES

ANAT GOV (1953-2012) (Playwright) was one of the foremost playwrights at the Cameri Theatre and in Israeli theatre. Her plays have been performed all across Israel’s top theater stages. Several of her plays also had productions around the world in over 10 languages. Best Friends, which first was presented in 1999 at the Cameri Theater, won the 2000 Israeli theatre award for Best Comedy and ran for over 700 performances. It was later revived with a joint production of the Cameri and Beit Lessin theater in 2014 with another successful run.

Anat Gov was born in 1953 in Tiberias. She was married to Gidi Gov, and had three children and two granddaughters.

She graduated the Theatre Track at the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, and did her army service in the Nahal Entertainment Troupe. She studied at the Tel Aviv University Department of Theatre Arts.

Writing for television: Zehu Ze (Educational TV, 1981-1991), Yes, What? (comedy series, Channel One), Evening With Gov (Channel Two), and Best Friends (drama series, HOT). Writing for theatre: Love to Death (1991, Jerusalem Khan Theatre), Best Friends (1999, Cameri Theatre), which won the 2000 Israeli Theatre Award for Best Comedy, Lysistrata 2000 (2001, Cameri Theatre), Opposing Sides, a joint project of Israeli and Palestinian playwrights for Theater Heilbronn in Germany (2003), Househusband (Cameri Theatre), which won the 2004 Israeli Theatre Award for Best Comedy, The Troupe, a stage adaptation of the musical (2007, Habima National Theatre), Oh, My God! (2008, Cameri Theatre), A Warm Family (2009, Cameri Theatre), Happy Ending (2012, Cameri Theatre). Translations: Via Dolorosa by David Hare, and Mother Courage by Bertolt Brecht (Cameri Theatre).

She was a columnist for the daily Yedioth Ahronoth, and one of the founders of the Ezrat Nashim organization for victims of sexual assault.

HAMUTAL POSKLINSKY-SHEHORY (Director) is a Drama Therapist and a theater director. Hamutal grew up in Israel, where she engaged in community building and created professional theater for many years.

Hamutal aspires to utilize the strong connection between theater and individual growth to create social transformations.

In her theatrical work, she utilizes her clinical techniques, and through aesthetic choices of movement, doubling, colors, and sound, reveals the beautiful human complexity.

ISRAELI ARTISTS PROJECT (IAP) - Your Home For Israeli Culture - is a non-profit organization that promotes and presents Israeli theater, music and art. IAP creates a home and stage for local Israeli artists— while providing a taste of home for lovers of Israeli culture.

Since 2018 IAP has reached thousands of audience members all over the East Coast through presentations of over 20 unique activities: from one-night-only musical events, kids programs, art exhibits, to theater runs for all ages. We have partnered on events with America-Israel Cultural Foundation (AICF), Israeli American Council (IAC), JCC's, Y's, Israeli Houses, synagogues, schools, and other organizations all over the East Coast.

During Covid, IAP presented the play Divorced by the Cameri theater, which was created to be performed in private homes and spaces in both Hebrew and English.

Currently, they have a special kids' show that gives homage to the Israeli classic The 16th Sheep. They created our very own house cover band called New Aviv City that had an inaugural show Shir-A-Long on February 9th. The next show will be on March 28th and May 11th. IAP is currently organizing an art exhibit to showcase local Israeli visual artists in May.

Next season IAP will open with a month-long Israeli Arts and Culture festival called Stav Celebration that will feature theater productions, one-night-only musical events by local Israeli artists, a galley exhibit, kids activities and many special workshops.

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Photo caption Left to Right: Yael Shavitt, Karin Hershkovitz-Kochavi, Maia Karo, Maya Shoham, Adi Kozlovsky, Addi Gefen in "Best Friends". Photo by Ohad Kab